Music, Film and Fashion

‘If you sing this next song as loud as you shout YORKSHIRE, we’re going to be okay’ cheered Justin Young right before breaking into the iconic riff of ‘Post Break Up Sex’. We can’t think of a better way to spend Friday the 13th than to of been dancing with The Vaccines in Sheffield.

They had it all – a set list with four albums worth of floor fillers, two huge disco balls – because one is never enough, casual get up and a crowd full of screaming Yorkshire bred and born fans.

Kicking starting the gig with single, ‘Nightclub’ from the new album ‘Combat Sports’, the disco ball was shimmering and the crowd was giving it large. Classic ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra) made it evident that their older songs still get the crowds going. From the emotional outpour of ‘Wetsuit’ to the huge, bolstering riffs of ‘Teenage Icon’, the crowd was more or less singing louder than Justin Young himself, hitting them out of the park one after another.

People’s feet didn’t stop moving for a good hour and a half… but can you really complain about that? ‘I Can’t Quit’ was a stand out; then again, it is undeniably a great song, so what did you expect from The Vaccines? (Pun certainly intended).

To finish things off, the gents ended with ‘All In White’ and simultaneously hands and phones were up in the air at the ready. It definitely felt like a moment not to be forgotten. Everyone had their arms around their mates whilst singing at the top of their lungs, the powerful last lyrics, ‘I’ve known you all my life/I was always wrong/you all in white,’ were sure to trigger some tears somewhere in the crowd.

Friday night was filled with one of the coolest bands around, great company and huge patriotic ‘Yorkshire’ chants that can’t help but make you smile and feel proud. The setlist was full of all your favourite Vaccines songs – young and old. Pints in the O2 may have cost £5.50 but did it put anyone off? Nah, of course, it didn’t. Out of the ‘Combat Sports’ tour, this Sheffield date was the first to sell out and ‘Combat Sports’ itself was written in Sheffield… coincidence? We doubt it.